WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (Oct. 2024): Taft College dual enrollment

This  month, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium announces the return of our Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity  (CVDEEP) Task Force Convening set for Nov. 14. So for our “What the CV-HEC is Happening” Blog this issue, we take a look at one member’s approach to dual enrollment at Taft College. Marni Cahoon, M.S., adjunct instructor of mathematics for the West Kern Community College District, recounts the road the Taft College faculty traveled to establish a program that helps its students face challenges on their academic journey with a renewed sense of hope and accomplishment. An alumna of University of Alaska, Southeast, Brigham Young University and the University of West Florida, Prof. Cahoon has been teaching at Taft since 2022.  

The CVHEC blog features perspectives about the higher education community and issues. Submissions are welcome for consideration: send to Tom Uribes, cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu.

Dual enrollment: overcoming

higher ed obstacles

‘… a force for opening college opportunities to more of our students’

  

BY MARNI CAHOON, M.S.
Adjunct Instructor of Mathematics (Taft College – West Kern Community College District)

During the 2022-2023 school year, I had the opportunity to teach the first dual enrollment mathematics course taught through Taft College on the campus of Taft Union High School in Taft, CA.  Taft is a small tight-knit community on the southwest edge of the San Joaquin Valley, and about a 45-minute drive to Bakersfield.

Historically, Taft exists because of the presence of oil fields; indeed, many are still employed in this industry.  As with much of the San Joaquin Valley, there is also a strong agricultural presence here.

Before embarking on my adventures at Taft High, I sought to understand the population I would be working with.  At that time the latest data available was from the 2021-2022 school year. I found that Taft High serves a predominantly minority population with over 82% of students considered socioeconomically disadvantaged.  Unfortunately, the latest test scores also showed that only 9% of Taft High students tested met or exceeded state standards in mathematics.

Economic disadvantages and low test scores combined with local industries not known for encouraging college education have perhaps left Taft High students less likely or seemingly unable to pursue higher education.

I see dual enrollment as vital to overcoming obstacles to higher education within my community. With the ability for students to enroll in and take higher education courses on their own high school campus, at no monetary cost to them or their families, I hope that dual enrollment is a force for opening college opportunities to more of our students.

This first dual enrollment math course was conceived with the desire to offer Calculus I to high school seniors, particularly those with an interest in entering the highly desirable STEM fields.  Because the incoming senior class had spent a few of their high school years in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, a dual enrollment Precalculus course was offered as a prerequisite during the fall 2022 semester to ensure students would be prepared for the rigors of Calculus I in the spring.

My students came to me having had Algebra 2 and much of their high school’s Precalculus course online. As such, they had fought through much adversity to be eligible for Calculus I. Even so, the semester of dual enrollment Precalculus was invaluable in reviewing and reteaching concepts from algebra and trigonometry.  I also saw this first semester as good exposure to the expectations of a college-level math course.  By the time Calculus I came around that spring semester, my students understood that our course would move at a pace much quicker than a typical high school math class and were able to plan accordingly.  They also were prepared for open-ended tests, and deeper dives into critical thinking. With these benefits, it was decided to continue teaching dual enrollment Precalculus before Calculus I in subsequent years.

As I have continued to teach dual enrollment throughout the semesters, I am always impressed with my students’ abilities to rise to the demands presented to them. Although many of my students have or will become the first in their families to attend college, they are determined to succeed.

Most importantly, my students are able to start a journey of essential self-discovery.  Having successfully taken a rigorous college course undoubtedly gives these students confidence in their abilities to be successful college students.  Indeed, as Calculus I is often considered a gateway to STEM careers, the ability to take the course before becoming traditional college students has allowed many of my students to narrow their academic focus and have a better understanding of the direction they would like their college education, and their future careers, to take.

Most of my students have gone on to enroll in engineering programs and Calculus II after high school graduation, with several attending Taft College. Others were able to decide before entering college full-time that a STEM degree wasn’t the best fit for them, thus allowing them to start their freshman year of college in a major better suited to their interests.  So far, all of my students have started college after high school graduation.

Whichever path my students ultimately end up taking after leaving my class, the ability to take college-level math courses in high school will help them transition to life as college students.  They are better able to rise above the demographics of their community and position themselves to take advantage of additional higher education opportunities.

BOARD NEWS: Dr. Vernon B. Harper Jr. appointed CSUB president

Harper has been serving as interim president since Dec. 31

 

The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees has appointed Dr. Vernon B. Harper Jr. to serve as president of California State University, Bakersfield, effective Sept. 25 when the announcement was made.

Dr. Harper has been serving as the university’s interim president since Dec. 31 following the retirement of President Lynnette Zelezny.  As a president of a Central Valley Higher Education Consortium member institution, he has been serving on the consortium board of directors since his interim appointment and will continue.

“I am honored and humbled to be entrusted to continue the stewardship of this extraordinary university that has had such a transformational impact on so many families across our region,” said Dr. Harper. “I’m thrilled to carry forward our student-centered work and strengthen partnerships across the university and throughout the region that will allow the CSUB community to reach new heights.”

Dr. Harper becomes the university’s sixth leader to serve in the role in a permanent capacity.

“During his interim appointment, Dr. Harper has taken meaningful and inclusive steps to enhance access, academic excellence and student success at CSU Bakersfield,” said CSU Trustee Douglas Faigin, chair of the CSUB Presidential Search Committee. “He has proven himself to be an equity-driven leader with a history of innovation in academic programming and student support. He will continue to identify and advance CSUB’s vision through a period of sustained growth and student success.”

During his tenure as interim president, Dr. Harper has launched a number of initiatives that support increased access and student success, including the middle and high school pre-admit program, making CSUB the first-choice destination for an increasing number of Kern County high school graduates. He also launched the Umoja Black Student Success Transfer Program in partnership with Bakersfield College to support student success, and CSUB will open its Black Students Success Center in the coming months.

Dr. Harper also began an initiative for CSUB to pursue the statewide Black-Serving Institution designation, has championed the `Runners on the Rise campaign, and has accelerated the completion of donor-supported facilities projects on campus.

Prior to his role as interim president, Dr. Harper served in several leadership roles at CSUB, starting in 2016, including as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, associate vice president of the same division, and dean of Academic Programs. He is also a professor of communications.

In his capacity as provost, Dr. Harper led initiatives that resulted in all-time highs in graduation and retention rates at CSUB; advanced diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for faculty and students; built significant public-private partnerships to increase enrollment; and inspired successful philanthropic efforts and investments to advance student success.

Dr. Harper previously served as the associate vice president for Academic Administration (2012-2016) at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where he led the opening of a branch campus located in downtown Philadelphia and worked with the Frederick Douglass Institute to develop the campus’s Diversity Strategic Plan to attract diverse candidates for faculty positions. Dr. Harper also served as associate provost at Wilkes University of Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2012, where he was responsible for regional accreditation, assessment and institutional effectiveness.

Before joining Wilkes University, Dr. Harper was an associate for Academic Affairs at the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia, the system administrative body of the 16 four-year institutions and 23 two-year institutions in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Dr. Harper earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in rhetoric and communication from West Chester University and a doctorate in human communication from Howard University. He also served eight years in the U.S. Army Reserve and is the recipient of the U.S. Army Achievement Medal and the Martin Luther King Unity Award.

See the CSU Bakersfield press release.

Media coverage:

Vernon B. Harper Jr. appointed as President of California State University, Bakersfield

MEMBER NEWS: CHSU White Coat Ceremony Sept. 28

CHSU Welcomes Over 150 New Medical Students into the Osteopathic Medical Community

 

Over 150 new medical students in the class of 2028 received their white coats at the California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic (CHSU-COM) Medicine White Coat Ceremony in Clovis Sept. 28.

At the ceremony, John Graneto, DO, dean of the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, shared the history of the white coat and the importance of maintaining professionalism and humanism in health care careers.

“Over the next 4 years we provide you the scientific and clinical tools to ultimately become doctors. And just as importantly, this white coat symbolizes many other essential parts of your medical education, a standard of professionalism, caring and humanism; and its emblem of the trust you must earn from and display to patients and their families,” remarked John Graneto, DO, Dean of the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.

An inspiring welcome address was provided by Donna Cashdan, DO, Immediate Past President of the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California. Dr. Cashdan spoke about how the white coat is a reminder of the responsibility these students now have as future physicians and a symbol of the trust placed in physicians by their future patients.

The white coats were generously sponsored by the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California, an organization focused on advancing and supporting osteopathic physicians in California by serving its mission to engage, educate, and advocate for DOs, so doctors can focus on being doctors. Founded in 1961, the association serves over 9,000 current and future doctors of osteopathic medicine throughout California.

Dr. Cashdan and CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine alum from the inaugural class of 2024, Vasha Swamy, DO, coated the first and second students in the ceremony, respectively.

 

 See CHSU press release

 

Contact: Richele Kleiser, (559) 312-3892, rkleiser@chsu.edu

North Valley Masters Upskilling Program begins recruiting — info sessions set

The WE Will! K-16 Educational Collaborative held its “All Partner Collaboration Convening” at Stanislaus State Sept. 26 including partners in two CVHEC initiatives funded for the North Valley: the Masters Upskilling Project, which is now recruiting high school teachers and the Central Valley Math Bridge Program.

WE Will! funding helps North Valley high school teachers

offset tuition for Masters Upskilling Program  

[UPDATE 10/31/24: Additional information sessions have been added Nov. 5 and 19 — both at 4:30 p.m. REGISTER]

Recruitment is now underway for a cohort of North Valley high school teachers interested in earning a master’s degree that will qualify them to teach college dual enrollment. Information sessions are available this month.

The North Valley Master’s Upskilling Program is presented by the  Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC)  thanks to a $400,000 grant by the WE Will! K-16 Workforce and Education Collaborative. 

In partnership with two CVHEC-members — Fresno Pacific University and National University along with CVHEC member community colleges and their service-area high schools — the program recruits and helps fund tuition for existing high school math and English teachers to earn a master’s so they can teach dual enrollment courses in those subjects on their high school campuses.

The grant is one of two awarded to CVHEC that will serve northern CVHEC member counties over the next three years. It  supports 12 high school English and 12 high school math teachers to offset much of the cost of this upskilling coursework and provide them with community college mentors to support them in their role as college instructors, said Tom Burke, CVHEC’s  Master’s Upskilling Program coordinator.

CVHEC is now working with Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties Superintendent of Schools Offices to recruit high school teachers seeking this opportunity as well as with regional community colleges to identify mentors for the participating teachers.

The first cohorts are set to begin in spring 2025 and high school teachers may learn more about admission at these upcoming information sessions:

For its online MA degree program in Mathematics Education, FPU has set information sessions for Oct. 8 and 22 from 4:40-5:40 p.m. each session: Math Info Session registration. [UPDATE 10/31/24: Additional information sessions have been added Nov. 5 and 19 — both at 4:30 p.m. REGISTER]

Courses cover a range of mathematics topics such as advanced algebra, geometry and calculus. The program includes courses like Math for Social Justice and Data Science. Students will read the research in math education and complete a series of three comprehensive exam papers embedded in the coursework.

The cohort will take two courses per semester for completion in summer 2026 with synchronous Zoom meetings on Wednesdays from 5:15 to 9 p.m.

The We Will!/CVHEC funding provides $12,500 per student and AIMS Education foundation provides an additional $5,000 per student. Students are also eligible to apply for the Federal TEACH grant.

Contact: Manjula Joseph, Ph.D., program director at manjula.joseph@fresno.edu or 559s.453.2096. (Also: Graduate.Studies@fresno.edu or 559.453.3690).

For its online Master of Arts degree program in English, National University has set information sessions for Oct. 8 and 23 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. each session:  English Info Session registration

The program curriculum covers major approaches to literature, including theoretical, historical, comparative, thematic, multicultural and genre studies. Coursework provides students with the critical vocabulary, tools and research ability to produce literary scholarship of professional quality and to participate in ongoing scholarly discussions of issues in literary study.

The Rhetoric specialization offers a program of graduate study in literature, as well as a wide range of cultural productions—from classical oration to contemporary cinema—with a particular emphasis on how language and image are used to produce various effects and meanings. The curriculum contains several variable-topic courses, allowing students to pursue broad program goals in topic areas matched to their interests.

With 12 students per cohort, the program offers 10 courses (45 quarter units) in a one course per month format with fully online, asynchronous instruction for program completion in 12-months or less.

The WE Will!/CVHEC funding provides $12,500 per student and a $3,978 (20%) tuition reduction scholarship per student from National University due to its partnership with  CVHEC.

Each cohort student will be paired with an English professor from a local community college district.

Contact: Jessica Gladney, program director, at jgladney@nu.edu or text 310.968.5805.

CVHEC and its partners are aiming to accomplish the success it has already had throughout the valley with the Master’s Upskilling Program which is the result of CVHEC’s dual enrollment task force, Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP).

The innovative program has produced over 160 master’s graduates qualified to teach dual enrollment college courses in partnership with the Fresno-Madera K-16 Collaborative in the mid-valley region and the Kern K-16 Collaborative in the south valley area.

 

 BACKGROUND

Established in 2019 to identify and establish the best elements of an intentional and sustainable strategy for dual enrollment, the Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP) Task Force is made up of more than 150 Central Valley secondary and postsecondary education leaders who gather annually for CVHEC dual enrollment convenings.

The Master’s Upskilling Program was the outcome of CVDEEP’s second convening in 2022 where participants from member colleges throughout the 10-county region identified an urgent need showing that many high schools, especially rural schools, are unable to offer dual enrollment courses on their campuses because they lack teachers who meet the community college minimum qualifications – a master’s degree.

(NOTE: CVDEEP’s valley-wide convening is set for Nov. 14 in Fresno open to educators, administrators with free registration [reg link to come ] now available).

The other $400,000 state grant CVHEC received from the WE Will! Collaborative will expand the Central Valley Math Bridge Program presented in partnership with College Bridge which has established the imitative that involves in the mid-valley area.

Funding for both consortium projects, which involve improving access to dual enrollment college courses for high school students, is from a $18 million grant the WE Will! Collaborative received from the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Programs last fall as part of the statewide drive to strengthen the K-16 education-to-career pipeline.

The dual enrollment aspect supports CVHEC’s mission to increase college degree and certificate attainment rates for valley students throughout the nine-county Central Valley region as well as helps fulfill the collaborative’s education-to-career pipeline goal, said Dr. Benjamín Durán, consortium executive director.

ABOUT The North Valley Tri-County Workforce and Education (WE Will!) K-16 Collaborative

 The North Valley Tri-County Workforce and Education (WE Will!) K-16 Collaborative is a multi-sector and intersegmental collaboration uniting Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties with CVHEC-member University of California, Merced as the lead agency and includes four other fellow CVHEC members: Merced College, Modesto Junior College, San Joaquin Delta College and California State University, Stanislaus. The collaborative also includes K-12 school districts, county offices of education, economic development agencies and local and regional employers.

WE Will! K-16: CVHEC dual enrollment projects in North Valley

Math Bridge and Master’s Upskilling

heading north via WE Will! K-16 funding

 

‘Together, we are creating pathways for success
that will benefit our communities for generations to come.’

 

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications/Media Coordinator

[NOTE: see updates below]

Two $400,000 state grants in partnership with the WE Will! K-16 Workforce and Education Collaborative will expand Central Valley Higher Education Consortium initiatives into the North Valley: the Master’s Upskilling Project and the Central Valley Math Bridge program.

Funding for both consortium projects, which involve improving access to dual enrollment college courses for high school students, is from a $18 million grant the WE Will! Collaborative received from the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Programs last fall as part of the statewide drive to strengthen the K-16 education-to-career pipeline.

McKenna Salazar — WE Will!

The North Valley Tri-County Workforce and Education (WE Will!) K-16 Collaborative is a multi-sector and intersegmental collaboration uniting Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties with CVHEC-member University of California, Merced as the lead agency and includes four other fellow CVHEC members: Merced College, Modesto Junior College, San Joaquin Delta College and California State University, Stanislaus. The collaborative also includes K-12 school districts, county offices of education, economic development agencies and local and regional employers.

“CVHEC is excited to join the WE Will! K-16 Collaborative as an initiative partner,” said Dr. Benjamín Durán, consortium executive director, when he learned of the CVHEC funding decision in April that will extend its programs already underway in other parts of the valley into the northern region.

CVHEC’s two programs already in place are through the Fresno-Madera K-16 Collaborative in the mid-valley region and the Kern K-16 Collaborative in the south valley area.

“Our south and mid-valley efforts have laid a solid foundation for the programs to succeed when scaled and replicated throughout our region to better serve all Central Valley students,” added the president-emeritus of Merced College who after his retirement in 2012 joined CVHEC in 2016.

Dr. Benjamín Durán,  CVHEC  

The dual enrollment aspect supports CVHEC’s mission to increase college degree and certificate attainment rates for valley students throughout the nine-county Central Valley region as well as helps fulfill the collaborative’s education-to-career pipeline goal.

McKenna Salazar, executive director of the Office of K-20 Regional Alliances and WE Will! K-16 Educational Collaborative, said the North Valley Collaborative sought partners whose initiatives would equitably enhance K-16 career pathways in healthcare and education.

“We are thrilled to partner on these initiatives, which represent a critical step toward ensuring that students experience seamless transitions across the educational spectrum,” Salazar said.

“Our partnership with CVHEC is an exciting endeavor that will empower students to thrive in both their academic and professional pursuits. Together, we are creating pathways for success that will benefit our communities for generations to come.”

 

Upskilling high school teachers to teach dual enrollment

The first $400,000 grant that CVHEC was awarded will support the extension of the consortium’s Master’s Upskilling Project into the northern CVHEC member counties over the next three years, said Elaine Cash, CVHEC’s grants and programs coordinator who secured the consortium funding.

The program — a collaboration of two CVHEC-members: Fresno Pacific University and National University with CVHEC member community colleges and the service-area high schools — recruits and helps fund tuition for existing high school math and English teachers to earn a master’s so they can teach dual enrollment courses in those subjects on their high school campuses.

The innovative program that has already produced over 160 master’s graduates qualified to teach dual enrollment college courses was the result of CVHEC’s dual enrollment task force, Central Valley Dual Enrollment for Equity and Prosperity (CVDEEP), established in 2019 to identify and establish the best elements of an intentional and sustainable strategy for dual enrollment. CVDEEP is made up of more than 150 Central Valley secondary and postsecondary education leaders who gather annually for CVHEC dual enrollment convenings.

“An urgent need identified by CVDEEP is that many high schools, especially our rural schools, are unable to offer dual enrollment courses on their campuses because they lack teachers who meet the community college minimum qualifications – a master’s degree,” Cash said.

As in the other valley locations, FPU plans to offer the WE Will! regional high school teachers holding a bachelor’s degree in mathematics an online MA degree program in Mathematics Education. National will offer the WE Will! regional high school English teachers an online Master of Arts degree program in English.

“Over the coming three years, the funding will support 12 high school English and 12 high school math teachers to offset much of the cost of this upskilling coursework and provide them with community college mentors to support them in their role as college instructors,” Cash said.

CVHEC will work with Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties Superintendent of Schools offices to recruit teachers seeking this opportunity as well as with regional community colleges to identify mentors.

(UPDATE Sept. 18, 2024) — Master’s Upskilling Project: recruitment campaign for 24 slots (12 English/12 Math) is now underway with MA classes to begin in January. CVHEC is working with WE Will! and county superintendent of schools officials to promote the program to county high school teachers.

 

Math Bridge — closing the equity achievement gap 

For the second $400,000 grant funding the Central Valley Math Bridge Project, WE Will! joins efforts by CVHEC with project-founding partner College Bridge to close the equity achievement gap of underrepresented students entering college.

“In the junior and senior years of high school, underrepresented students have the opportunity and support to successfully complete the critical gateway requirements in transfer-level college math while mapping their chosen pathways to and through the CV colleges and universities of their choice,” Cash explained.

The high school students are enrolled in dual enrollment college Math Bridge courses, she said. These transfer-level math courses include a College Transition Bridge (CT Bridge) curriculum that offers students a comprehensive college-readiness experience, including an introduction to Pathway Program Mapper in coordination with the CVHEC Transfer Project.

PPM is a public internet-based software application that presents students with pre-approved course sequences aligning the community college Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) agreement with the upper division requirements by major for successful degree completion.

Several high schools in the WE Will! region have already added the CV Math Bridge course, Cash said, adding that CVHEC and College Bridge will focus the WE Will! Collaborative funding to:

1) expand the Pathway Program Mapper to include pathways for seamless ADT transfers from San Joaquin Delta, Modesto and Merced community colleges to UC Merced and CSU Stanislaus, and

2) expand the CV Math Bridge project, adding additional high schools in the Modesto Community College region.

“CVHEC is delighted to receive funding to support the expansion of the Central Valley Math Bridge program into the WE Will! collaborative region,” Cash said.  “We look forward to working with the North Valley collaborative to achieve regional goals that support our students’ college and career successes.”

The first phases for the two programs once the funding is in place is to begin collaborating with high schools for the Math Bridge program and working with county superintendent of schools offices to begin recruiting master’s candidates.

(UPDATE Sept. 18, 2024): Math Bridge officials are presently meeting with county school officials to plan implementation. Recruitment of students is tentatively set for next spring with the first cohort to begin instruction in the fall 2025. Additional updates to come.

 

See:

UC Merced-led Collaborative Awards $10.6 Million to Community  (May 9, 2024)

UC Merced-led Regional Education Collaborative Awarded $18.1 Million in State Funds (Nov. 22, 2023)

MEMBER NEWS: North Valley, East Sierra CVHEC members partner for K-16 Collaboratives (Nov. 16, 2022) 

HIGHER ED NEWS: College Bridge to expand Math Bridge; CVHEC Transfer Project

AB 1705: Math Task Force sets Oct. 25 reconvene with 3 strands

Math Task Force ‘Central Valley Way’

gains national math attention

 

REGISTER

As a July 1, 2025 deadline approaches regarding implementation of Assembly Bill 1705, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Math Task Force prepares for its next convening of valley math minds Friday, Oct. 25 in Clovis amidst several new developments.

The group has now met five times since October 2022 – three in person and two virtually – as Central Valley community colleges prepare to meet the requirements of AB 1705 related to  equitable placement, support and completion practices for STEM programs.

The free convening Oct. 25, again co-facilitated by John Spevak, Ph.D., CVHEC regional coordinator who oversees the consortium’s Math Task Force, and Tammi Rice-Perez, Ed.D., of the Charles A. Dana Center (University of Texas at Austin), will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Clovis Community College Herndon campus (390 W. Fir Ave. in Clovis).

At the April 19 gathering attended by about 70 that Spevak described as “filled with energy, synergy and productivity,” math professors and deans shared ideas about how best to meet AB 1705 requirements.

That conversation will continue on Oct. 25 with the focus narrowed to three strands and discussion of a new direction provided recently by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.  

Spevak said the task force, with the help of the Dana Center, has been working over the summer to present reports on these three updated strands:

  • “Developing a Single-Course Prerequisite to Calculus,” led by Professor Jeremy Brandl of Fresno City College
  • “Developing a Calculus 1 Course with a Corequisite,” led by Professor Shelley Getty of Taft College
  • “Verifying the New Prerequisite Course,” led by Professor Nathan Cahoon of Taft College.

“The Oct. 25 math gathering in Clovis will continue to focus on the Central Valley Way to Math Success in light of AB 1705,” said Dr. Spevak. “Math professors will be giving updates on the development of new courses that will be taught starting in fall 2025, including a new calculus prerequisite course and a calculus with corequisite course.”

Spevak said another group of professors is working on ways to deal with the challenges presented in the Chancellor’s Office guidelines to implementing AB 1705.

He added that the Central Valley’s pursuit of best math practices is gradually expanding as representatives from the California State University and the University of California are expected to attend on Oct. 25 and provide updates.

That gathering will also include expanding representation from K-12 partners, who are also working on finding the best paths to math success in the Central Valley.

Dr. Spevak also announced that this collaborative endeavor by CVHEC, the Dana Center and consortium member institutions of higher education – convening community college math educators, administrators and researchers as well as K-12 representatives to address AB1705 – is getting national attention with the invitation of two strand leads of the Math Task Force, Jeremy Brandl and Shelley Getty, to present at a national math conference in Georgia this fall.

They will join Rice-Perez of the Dana Center to make a presentation about the “Central Valley Way to Math Success” collaboration at the annual conference of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) in Atlanta I Nov. 14-17.

“We continue to thank all the math professionals in our region for their dedication to math success for our Central Valley students,” said Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director and president-emeritus of Merced College.

“You are all doing something unique — a collaboration of math educators working closely together to create the Central Valley Way to Math Success. Now the work of your partnerships is being noticed nationally.”

He noted the AB1705 collaboration on the Central Valley front is providing an added benefit: the establishment of an ongoing network between the consortium’s math community.

“This is one of the primary purposes of our consortium, to convene our members on issues of higher education affecting our region and to unify as one voice when needed,” Dr. Duran said. “That’s why we call this CVHEC Math Task Force endeavor ‘the Central Valley Way.’”

Registration for the event is now open.

See also: 

 

Kern Master’s Upskill Program nears half-way mark 

The drive is on to place the program’s master’s grads

in Kern community college adjunct spots

 

The Kern Master’s Upskill Program continues to forge ahead as four cohorts of high school teachers are halfway to its goal of 100 new master’s degrees which qualifies the teachers for instruction of dual enrollment courses at Kern County high schools.

Formally known as the Dual Enrollment Teacher Upskilling Pathway for English and Mathematics, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium initiative is in partnership with the Kern Regional K-16 Education Collaborative that was funded as part of an $18 million statewide competitive grant in June 2022 to improve student progress from high school to postsecondary education and ultimately into the workforce under the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS), which serves as the administrative agent for the Kern K-16 Collaborative.

CVHEC first started the Teacher Upskilling component in Fresno County in 2021 with similar state funding through the Fresno/Madera K-16 Collaborative before teaming up with its Kern partners for $1.7 million to produce, over three years, up to 100 qualified dual enrollment teachers to teach English and Math.

This year, the CVHEC program is also expanding into the North Valley with two $400,000 state grants in partnership with the WE Will! K-16 Collaborative with 24 slots – 12 in English and 12 in math (see the We Will story in this issue).

CVHEC’s Teacher Upskilling program is in partnership with two consortium members:  Fresno Pacific University offers a Master’s degree in Mathematics education and National University offers a Master’s degree program in English.

In the past academic year, 48 students earned their English and math master’s degrees and now the program is in full gear for the next step, said Tom Burke, CVHEC’s Kern Masters Upskilling Program lead.

“Our faculty mentors and mentor coordinators are currently working with the graduates to get them into the adjunct hiring pools for Bakersfield College, Cerro Coso Community College, Porterville College and Taft College.  “This is the initial step toward teaching dual enrollment at Kern County high schools.”

He provided this breakdown of the current Kern progress since the program began in 2022:

 

English MA Summary:

  • In three cohorts to date, 32 students have graduated.
  • Also from those first 3 cohorts, nine master’s candidates have received in progress grades and are working to complete their capstone course towards meeting their full degree requirements.
  • A fourth cohort in English is in development.

 

Math MA Summary:

  • Sixteen (16) students from cohort 1 have graduated.
  • Cohort 2 currently has 11 students on course to graduate in spring 2025.
  • Cohort 3 commences this semester (fall 2024) with 22 master’s candidates and will complete in spring 2026.

The project also includes the CVHEC Mentor Program that pairs the master’s candidates with a community college mentor to support them along the way and help them navigate the process to becoming an adjunct community college faculty member.  In Kern, the mentor coordinators are Dr. Liz Rozell (math) and Dr. Vikash Lakhani (English).

Burke said the program is currently recruiting for math mentors while mentor recruitment for the new north valley We Will  initiative will begin lagter in the fall semester.

 

See:

 

BOARD NEWS: CVHEC welcomes new board members – Fall 2024

Read more

WHAT THE CV-HEC IS HAPPENING BLOG (Sept. 2024): The college scene resumes

With the advent of the fall semester for our 28 member-institutions and for education throughout the nation, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium presents a few words from Kevin A. Nelson, Merced College English professor who teaches at the Los Baños Campus, as the “What the CV-HEC is Happening” Blog for our September issue. An alumnus of California State University, Long Beach and Cal Poly Humboldt, Prof. Nelson has been teaching at Merced College since 2013. Here he offers some insights about his experience at the Los Baños Campus with words that capture the essence of college life across the nation as the fall semester is now in full swing.

The CVHEC blog features perspectives about the higher education community and issues. Submissions are welcome for consideration: send to Tom Uribes, cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu.

 

 

‘Our goals are to succeed, to learn and understand

and to rise up and make life better’

 

BY KEVIN NELSON

Professor of English – Merced College Los Banos Campus

 

I have been teaching English at the Merced College Los Baños Campus since 2013: reading, writing, critical thinking and literature. I’d like to talk a little about why this campus is a good place to learn.

I attended Cal State Long Beach and Cal Poly Humboldt, and I lived and taught all over the world before coming to the Central Valley. My life experiences have been vastly different from the majority of my students and many of my peers, but somehow, we find common ground and form a community — a group of people who know each other and have common goals.

It is this little community of 15 to 35 people in my classrooms (and the people who support them every day) that makes the Los Baños Campus a great place to work and maybe, more importantly, a really great place to attend college.

My little community is diverse in and out of the classroom.

This year, we celebrate our math teacher’s 30th year of service at Los Baños Campus, and at the same time we welcome a new English instructor who was once a Merced College student!

One of my classes (a typical mix) has 16- and 17-year-olds who got to college faster than most of us, as well as returning students in their 30s and 40s and beyond. I get students who want to start a career, discover a new adventure, find a new path or embark on a second, third or fourth act!

I have students who struggled in K-12, students who excelled, students who struggle to keep up and students who zip through the work.

I have confident, shy, introverted, extroverted, older, and younger students. I have students who co-parent, students who help support their families financially, students with their own kids in college and students who are just starting families.

If you look around my classroom, you can get a glimpse of the community around the college.

My students are different from each other, but the same. Our similarity is in our goals and values. We value education, learning, collegiality — the opportunity to grow and be a stronger, more capable, more informed person. Our goals are to succeed, to learn and understand and to rise up and make life better.

For my little community, the goal is significant — every one of my students wants to be better at something. They have life and work goals, and they recognize that this is where better begins.

For me, community isn’t just about finding like-minded people, it’s about action — doing. This is why I live here and do this. I hope you will join us.

 

HIGHER ED NEWS: PPIC Pathways Report

 

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A sweeping new report, “Pathways to College Completion in the San Joaquin Valley,” by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found a multitude of factors contributing to lower college attainment rate in the region, compared to the rest of the state, including a lack of preparation in high school, low university application rates (especially to the UC system), financial constraints, campus proximity, and a perception of less access. That’s a problem for the state, as well as the region.

Central Valley struggles to produce college grads;

key programs are turning that around

 

By EMMA GALLEGOS
(EdSource – Aug. 20, 2024)

 

A new report delivers bad and good news for the Central Valley.

The bad news: The vast majority of parents, 79%, want their children to get a bachelor’s degree, but just 26% of students in the region are on pace to achieve that.

The good news: Central Valley educators in both K-12 and higher education are pioneering strategies that could transform the region’s low college attainment rates. That includes broadly expanding dual enrollment opportunities; increasing the number of students meeting requirements to graduate from high school; and creating regional partnerships to smooth key transitions between high school, community college and four-year universities.

A sweeping new report, “Pathways to College Completion in the San Joaquin Valley,” by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found a multitude of factors contributing to lower college attainment rate in the region, compared to the rest of the state, including a lack of preparation in high school, low university application rates (especially to the UC system), financial constraints, campus proximity, and a perception of less access. That’s a problem for the state, as well as the region.

“When we look to the state’s future, the San Joaquin Valley is especially important,” said Hans Johnson, one of the report’s authors.

That’s because the Central Valley is populous, young and growing rapidly — 4 million and counting — compared with other parts of the state. But it is also a region that requires attention, because, over the last 50 years, it has fallen behind the rest of the state economically. In 1974, residents in the Central Valley made 90% of the state’s per capita income. In 2020, that number had fallen to 68%.

“When you increase the educational attainment rate here in the Central Valley, it lifts the entire region socioeconomically and culturally as well,” said Benjamin Duran, executive director of the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium.

He said that too few students obtaining any kind of degree — associate, bachelor’s or advanced — means the valley will continue to have too few people in critical professions, such as nursing, medicine and teaching.

“It’s way below what our economy in general demands,” said Johnson, a senior fellow with PPIC. “We know the value of a college degree statewide is incredibly strong — and in the Valley as well. So, not everybody has to go (to college), but more people and more students should be going than are going right now.”

The report finds that students in the Central Valley tend to graduate from high school at nearly the same rate as other students in the state, but show a sharp decline during the critical juncture of transitioning from high school to college and, for students who register at community colleges, which a majority of Valley college students do, transferring to a four-year university or college.

High school students lack preparation

According to the PPIC report, students in the Valley have wildly different experiences based simply on which school districts they attend.

“That’s both encouraging and kind of discouraging that we have such a wide variation that where you go to school, to not a small extent, is going to determine what kind of possibilities you have for going on to college,” Johnson said.

School districts that do a good job preparing socioeconomically disadvantaged students tend to also prepare their wealthier peers well, the report shows.

Two of the Valley’s largest districts, for example, demonstrate this. The college-going rate for Fresno Unified’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students is 64%, compared with 67% of their more advantaged peers. Those same rates for the Kern High School District are 48% and 53% respectively.

The problem is that many Central Valley students are not graduating from high school with the preparation that they need to succeed in college, according to Olga Rodriguez, one of the report’s authors.

One important metric is how many students have taken the full college preparatory sequence — known as A-G — required for admission to California’s public universities. In the Central Valley, 4 out of 10 high school graduates met the A-G requirements, compared with 6 out of 10 for Los Angeles and Bay Area students.

“If you want to increase the number of college graduates, that’s where we have so much potential,” said Rodriguez, director of the PPIC Higher Education Center.

Students who do not meet A-G requirements are not able to begin their college career at a CSU or UC school. Additionally, this lack of preparation makes it more challenging for students at community colleges to successfully transfer to a four-year university, Rodriguez said.

To improve their rates, some school districts have shifted to mandating that students graduate with A-G requirements; others have simply dropped classes that are not A-G eligible. However, many other districts are not prioritizing A-G classes.

“A-G policies often seemed centered on politics and local industry needs — as opposed to being focused on students’ needs and aspirations,” the report states.

An analysis by EdSource found that 56% of high school seniors do not complete the A-G requirements. EdSource found that the problem is particularly dire among Black and Latino students, as well as in certain regions, such as Northern California and the Central Valley.

For many communities in the Central Valley, higher education is considered more “aspirational” than realistic, Duran said, adding that it’s the job of all educators across the spectrum to educate both students and parents about how to make college a reality.

The default choice for many Central Valley students is to stay at home and attend a local community college, rather than attend a CSU or UC — even for students who have the grades. The perception is that it ends up being cheaper and maybe a safer option, but that’s not always the case.

“When you look at the net price, it’s actually more affordable to go to a CSU than it is to stay at a community college,” said Rodriguez. “Especially when you think about the likelihood of completion and how long it’s going to take you.”

 

Partnerships make the difference

Because the transitions between institutions is where students tend to fail, the report says that partnerships between high schools, community colleges, CSU campuses and the region’s only UC campus, in Merced, are important for Central Valley students.

In this area, the region is “ahead of the game,” said Rodriguez.

The Associate Degree for Transfer (ADT) is a program that guarantees community college students who meet certain requirements a spot at a CSU campus, but the UC system has not joined in. However, UC Merced — the only UC in the Central Valley — is unique in having its own version of an ADT guarantee for regional community colleges, Johnson notes. The university also has a similar guarantee program aimed at high school students in regional districts.

There are similar partnerships throughout the Valley that are trying to ease those transitions. For instance, Fresno State has a new Bulldog Bound Program that guarantees admission to high school students in over 40 school districts who meet requirements — and also gives them support during their high school career.

The region has three K-16 collaboratives that focus on making sure that schools are able to prepare students for college at a young age — whether that is through educating parents or helping high school teachers, particularly in English and math, get master’s degrees so they can teach dual enrollment courses.

Dual enrollment has thrived in the Central Valley, thanks to partnerships largely between community colleges and K-12 schools in the region. Dual enrollment allows students to take college credit courses during high school, which makes them more likely to continue on to college after high school.

The work being done in the Central Valley serves as an incubator for what can happen in the rest of the state, said Duran.

“The work we do is collaborative,” said Duran. “We try to bring projects and initiatives that can not only be replicated here, but in the rest of the state.”

If these changes lead to a swell of enrollment, the report notes that there is plenty of higher education infrastructure in the region. Few colleges or universities have programs that are impacted — unlike in other parts of the state. Both CSU and UC are banking on growth in this region.

Emma Gallegos covers equity issues in education and is based in California’s Central Valley.

See:

EdSource article

PPIC Panel Aug. 20 story 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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